Maps in Decor

As a departure from traditional artwork, maps can make a wonderful statement in your home. Depending on your interests, you can use nautical maps, street maps or vintage schoolhouse maps to adorn your walls. Their beautiful topography can inspire the entire color scheme for your room as shown below.

Feature them in their entirety as a wonderful conversation piece!

Decoupage them to the walls to create a sense of texture.

Or use a graphic map inspired tile in your shower!

You can cut the map up using a grid system and frame them out as shown below.

If you are big travelers, do what this couple did and put up a world map and put a pin in for each spot you visit (one color for him and another for her)!

Living on the coast, I have used nautical maps in decor on many occasions: to cover a large bulletin board in a playroom, to cover books in a beach house and to decoupage onto an old dresser top for a little boy's bedroom. Nautical maps are for sale at coastal sporting goods stores and vintage maps can be found on eBay and in antique stores and flea markets. Do you have any creative ideas for using maps in decor?

~Images: 1) Traditional Home 2) Elle Decor 3) Domino May 2007 4) Domino December 2005 5) Pottery Barn 6) Courtesy of Little Green Notebook Blog 7) Unknown 8)Keller Donovan 9) Domino March 2009

Choosing Colours For Your Interiors!

One of the greatest things about interior design is that you can opt for any style you like, it's your home and you should feel comfortable in it! You do not have to keep up with the very latest design trends to have an interior which is stunning.

If you can't decide on which colour you like best or simply have to have them all then simple aspects such as painting your cupboard doors all a different colour can look striking and very stylish! In order that the look is not overwhelmed opt for plain white blinds which enable you to control how much light and privacy you want or need.

Using Venetian styled blinds in a kitchen is ideal, particularly if they are made from metal which has been coated to help reduce dust build up as well as being very easy to keep clean, as they allow plenty of natural light to flood into the room creating a homely, bright and airy space when stacked at the top of the window or when the louvres are tilted open. If you have small windows you can further maximise the use of natural light up slightly tilting the louvres upwards which enables the light to bounce off a white ceiling.

Keep things natural in the kitchen by having easy to clean flooring around the working areas. If you have a table in your kitchen you can opt for a rug made from natural materials to keep the theme coordinated and bring a sense of homeliness as well as cohesion to the room.

Image: Avant-garde Design

How to Decorate with Throw Pillows; 5 Rules to Follow

Never underestimate the decorative impact of a toss cushion. Maria Killam

I never design a space without including fabrics for throw pillows because I truly believe they make or break a living room. Here are some guidelines to get yours just right:
1. If your cushions match your sofa (that’s usually standard when you buy one), grab them and run, do not walk, to give them to your nearest thrift store!! That’s the first step to update your look. The exception to this is if you have a large sofa or sectional, just as long as you also include the decorative ones that pull the room together.

Sarah Richardson

2. If there’s a pattern in the room like in the ottoman [above] I never repeat it in the toss cushions I design for the sofa, personally I think it looks contrived. I like my toss cushions to have their own personality, like this media room [below]:

Maria Killam Colour & Design

3. If you do have solid coloured cushions, make sure they are pulling together other colours in the room. Here Jeffrey Bilhuber has repeated the caramel tones of the chair in the toss cushions on the sofa as well as the orange to work with the drapery and tie the room together.

The solid toss cushions in this space by Eileen Kathryn Boyd are a huge piece of the elements that tie this space together! Without the cushions, it would not be even remotely as fabulous as it is now!

4. If you buy a patterned toss cushion (instead of a solid, like the ones shown above), make sure that pattern picks up at least one colour that is already in your space. This toss cushion [below] would be fabulous on a black sofa, but not as coordinated sitting on a blue one.

Part of the reason why this room by Ralph Lauren feels so luxurious and comfortable is because of the layered area rugs and kilims in addition to the wonderful and skillful combination of solid and patterned cushions. Notice that every colour in this room has been repeated in the cushions.

5. The easiest way to buy new cushions (without taking your living room with you) is to take a fan deck of paint colours (you can get one in any paint store, and every home owner should have one) and find the paint chips that match the furniture already in the space. Then when you are out shopping, you will have an easy reference already in your wallet for determining if that pillow will look just as great in your bedroom or living room as it does in the store!

Embroidered Suzani Pillow

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Protect Your Flooring From Fading With Venetian or Vertical Blinds

Wooden flooring has been popular for many years, either original stripped floor boards in older styles of homes, parquet flooring in the 1960s along with the influx of laminate style flooring which is being used throughout modern homes.

Interior designers have created beautiful wooden floors which have patterns set within them providing the best of both worlds in terms of both innovation and chic style! The patterns are made from using different coloured wood in the same way as marquetry is used on furniture. Wood inlay coloured patterns can be selected to blend effortlessly with your interior design colour scheme, offering a truly remarkable floor with maximum effect.

However, anyone with a natural floor needs to take care and reduce the risk of staining by mopping up spills as quickly as possible before it has time to penetrate into the wood and also by ensuring the window dressing they choose offers flexibility and practicality in helping to reduce the floor from fading in harsh sunlight. This is of particular importance if you have south facing windows as even in the UK where people may not think there is sufficient or intense sunlight which will damage floors will be astounded to know that the UV rays can cause as much harm to your floor as they can to your skin even on the dullest of days!

Venetain or vertical blinds are the ideal solution as they can look stunning when used as the sole window treatment and equally as striking when teamed with curtains. The great advantage over having either of these styles of blinds is the amount of control you have in diffusing the light or blocking it out completely. Adjusting the louvres correctly will also help furniture and soft furnishings from fading, as well as providing privacy when needed.

Image: Freshome

Beach Reading for the Weekend

Image Source: Ranae Moore Designs

Now that one of my sisters is a blogger, I have been discussing headlines with her and how important they are to a blog post. I had to laugh when I went over to her blog yesterday and she had written a post headlined; The Number one Reason Married People are Celibate.

My favourite blog on fashion and style written by image consultant Imogen Lamport (it’s like my blog but all about clothes – I learn something new everytime I’m there), is featuring a naked woman along with some great weekend reading as well.

Design Ties wrote a great post all about decks with maintenance tips and beautiful images!

Garden Designs wrote a fabulous post on Modern Classics for the Masses. Check out these chairs for your deck instead of the ones we are used to!

Brett Walther from Style at Home Magazine posted a fabulous new light fixture from IKEA, it’s a must see!

Have a great weekend!

If you would like your home to fill you with happiness every time you walk in, contact me for on-line or in-person consultations.

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Hunting & Fishing

Well, my version of hunting and fishing that is...combing junk stores, flea markets and antique malls! I wanted to share with you some of my recent finds from my hunting trips but I need to start by apologizing for the quality of these photos. (I desperately need a nice camera! It makes all the difference.) Hopefully I will have more after photos ASAP. I usually intend for these things to go to clients but they often end up residing with...you guessed it...moi!

Tobacco basket with a Lake City, SC label. I will probably hang it on a wall as a piece of art, much like the photo below...

And an iron gate I found in Savannah, Ga that I hope to back with an aged mirror. How fabulous, right?

An old farm spool that my carpenter is turning into one or two tables.

The Chinoiserie style dresser will be repaired, lacquered and finished off with new hardware. Love the Bentwood stool! Here it is in a room setting...

Some discounted fabric remnants that were too good to pass up...fabulous ikat print...aqua mohair....and this pink David Hicks print by Ashley Hicks is so much fun!

Great chevron trim remnants (perfect for pillows), cool shaped coral button and some fun vintage mother-of-pearl square buttons!

This Henredon parson's style table was a steal at $5 and will look great painted out but for now it lives here in on my landing....

(p.s. the "o" is actually a zero from the old Roper Hospital sign and p.p.s. the wonderful shrimp boat watercolor was created by my very talented father!)

I love the detail on the legs!

These old iron pieces have a great shape!

Before: Console

After: Console

~Images: Domino April 2007 and Kay Douglas' Florida Beach Home

New York with Mary Knackstedt

Well it’s official.  I’m going to New York in exactly two weeks (barely booked my flight today without paying double, whew).  When I was in Toronto on Vacation a couple weeks ago--but hadn’t let anyone know in advance--I heard about it in a few emails, so this time I’m giving y’all notice :)  Why am I going you ask?

flickr

A few months ago, I was in Seattle with some designer friends to hear Mary Knackstedt speak.  One of the many brilliant things she said was “Never take a job you know you can’t do 80% with your eyes closed, or you won’t make any money”  I’m sure this applies to any consultant out there as well but it really hit home with me.  Designers are notorious for doing that!   Mary has written many books but this one is required reading in design school:

Mary Knackstedt is also a consultant who works with interior designers.  After 15 minutes on the phone with her today, I jumped on board for a year long course with her.  Every since my dear friend Liz Stevenson passed away this past Spring, I have been looking for a new mentor (we all need one if we are going to be the best we can be) so here she is!!

I’ll be in New York a total of 4 times this upcoming year – I’m so excited!  I love New York, I have only been there twice.  Once in January [for a personal development course] where I froze!!  And the second time in June a couple years ago for my 40th birthday!  Yaay, I can’t wait!

Update on my trip to New York: Due to unforseen circumstances, my trip to New York has been postponed until October, dates tba. I've started my training with Mary though, so I'll be updating you periodically.

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Happiness is. . . a great Ottoman

Okay, I’m embarrassed to admit it but I will.  I shamelessly copied this post today from Elements of Style.  I fell instantly in love with these ottomans by Nate Berkus on HSN.

 

I love ottomans.  If your living room is where your TV has to be (like mine) because you don’t have a family room or a media room, you’ll want to put your feet up!  If possible, I like to design that kind of space with an ottoman, otherwise your feet will end up on your coffee table.

Which colour is your favourite?

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For the Constant Gardener (or the Non-Gardener Like Me)

I know I am not the first blogger to cover this topic but I was sourcing a garden stool today for a client (to use as a shaving bench in her shower) so they were on my mind. An interior design trend for the past few years has been to use these stools as side tables, nightstands or extra seating in a pinch. It is always nice to break up massive amounts of wood furniture by having another material like ceramic to add some interest. Likewise for adding a shape other than square or rectangular furniture.

I love layering them in front of other tables like this...

Garden stools as side tables, coffee tables and nightstands...

I also like to layer them under a console table like this...

My favorite source for ceramic stools is Emissary (available to the trade only). Their varied collection is what put this company on the map back around 1989 . If you like anything you see, email me at sidney@eclectic-idg.com for a price. Or you can get your own knock-off version for cheap via any of the companies below, many of which are having end of summer sales. Beware however that most versions are heavy as all get out!

Wisteria Metallic Chinese Garden Stool for $129

Ballard Tuiles Garden Seat for $99

Overstock Ceramic Hexagonal Stool for $160

~Images: 1) styleathome.com 2) Designer Mary McDonald 3) Designer Jennifer Marsico Domino April 2007 4) House Beautiful Oct 2009 5) Domino Dec/Jan 2009 6) Domino April 2008 7) Coastal Living May 2009 8) Ashley Whitaker courtesy of Little Green Notebook

Break The 'Rules' With Bold Curtains And Fabrics

Finding new and innovative ways to dress your windows has never been easier with the vast range of colours and styles of fabric which are widely available both on the high street and online.

Go for something daring and bold which brings nature into your home by selecting fabric which has a bold floral print in this season's in-trend colour of gorgeous lime green and white. To add further individuality and chic style to your home rather then opt for a classical curtain at each side of the window, use one wide curtain or length of fabric and sweep it from the top of the window to one side and hold in place with a tie back.

This enables the beauty of the pattern and the fabric to be seen at all times not just when the curtains are drawn together in the evenings. If floral patterns are not to your taste this style of window dressing works equally as effectively with any bold print as well as plain fabric. Keep the weight of the fabric in mind when making your choice as the lighter the weight the more fluidity it will provide.

Coordinate the colour with the rest of your interior design colour scheme or alternatively opt for a deliberate clash of colours to inject vibrancy and a sense of fun into a room. The latest colour clashing is in-vogue in a big way at present which enables you to opt for your favourite colours and do away with the usual 'rules' of interior design, which is an absolute joy for those who can never seem to get their colours coordinated correctly!

However, although colour clashing is in-vogue you do need to be a little careful otherwise you can end up with a miss-mash of colours which look more like an interior design nightmare than chic style!

Image: Avant-Garde

Movies & Design

I am a huge, huge, huge movie buff. I love movies for the entertainment factor, obviously, but I also love them for the entire creative process that envelopes them. If you think about all that goes into the production of a movie from screenplay adaptation to casting to location scouting to set design to wardrobe creation to trailer development, I would love to do all of it! My dad has always teased me that The Oscars are like my version of The Superbowl.

As you can image, I have always dreamed about doing set design. While working at a retail shop in Charleston, I met a production assistant for the film The Notebook. I bombarded that poor woman with so many questions that I ran her out of the store! Before she left she was nice enough to invite me to watch them film a block away on Pitt Street. One of the coolest experiences of my life! [Should I not admit that?] It was fun to see how they transformed our quaint little Mt. Pleasant village into a 1940's storefront.

Anyway, there are certainly some iconic films when it comes to set design: Somethings Gotta Give, The Holiday and Father of the Bride are the films that my clients mention most often. All of which, were created by famed director Nancy Meyers who is a god when it comes to depicting stunning dream homes that are undeniably timeless. Learn more about this talented director in this article via Silver Screen Surroundings blog (great source!) or here on imdb.com.

Can you guess which photo is from which movie?

Answers: 1) Somethings Gotta Give 2-4) The Holiday 5) Father of the Bride 6) Somethings Gotta Give

I cannot talk about movies without mentioning a few of my obsessions. Hitchcock and Dorris Day films, both of which I discovered in high school and both of which require their own entire post so I will refrain from getting started. However, I also grew up watching James Bond movies with my dad and my brother and although I enjoyed the plot; over-the-top bad guys, high-tech gadgets, and kitschy one-liners, I especially loved watching the films. The Bond series spans over five decades (and counting) so each film captures the trends of the times in regards to fashion, furnishings, architecture and technology.

Dr. No (1962)

Moonraker (1979)

Casino Royale (2006)

Have a movie you love for the set design? Let me know!

~Images: Courtesy of Silver Screen Surroundings Blog, Urban Grace Blog and hotflick.net